Ponderings, Wonderings and Ramblings.

Author: captainmo08

Last week I was given the privilege of teaching at the Youth Service here in Brussels. I am finding more and more that I love to teach the Bible, and that I am pretty good at it. Well, I just wanted to share it on here, like I did in the spring when I taught, so others could read it as well. Share this with others you think might need to hear it or would appreciate it.

What is your Treasure?

Main Idea: If we were to truly savor and treasure Jesus Christ, how much differently would our lives look?

Matt 13:44 – “The kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have 3 things with you, what would you have?
There are things that we cannot live without right? How about in your everyday life. Are their certain things you cannot live without?
Phones, Internet, Facebook, Music, TV, Certain People?
How much do we love these things?

Do you love them as much as the things of God?
Community, Prayer, Reading the Bible, Memorization, Fasting, Righteousness, Holiness?
Or do you love them more?

I am right there with you. I love movies and TV shows, so there is judgement here. I am constantly listening to music, and its not always Christian music. I can literally talk about TV and music for hours. I have wasted many days binge watching Netflix.
But can we do that with the Lord. Can you binge read the Bible for a whole day? Can you spend an entire day with the Lord in prayer and study? Meditating on his Word and memorizing passages?
What would you do with an entire free day – free from obligation and commitments? Would you fill it with the things of the Lord or with the things of the World?

Yes, its true that all of these things are not sinful, we we must evaluate these things based on the Bible and not just our own reasoning.
First – Evaluate if the things you are watching or doing are promoting Christ or the World.
This is a HUGE problem with TV and music – most shows are, at best, indifferent to sin, if not promoting it. We must guard what we allow in our lives regarding the worlds view of sin, or we can begin to become indifferent to sin as well.
Second – Maybe its not promoting sin – but in 1 Corinthians 10:23 it says “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.”
So all things are lawful (he is not talking about sin – he was talking to the Jews about new freedoms in Christ and things that are permissible. He is NOT saying that sin is lawful!) but that is not our only filter when we act.
Is it helpful?
Does it build up? Yourself, others or the Glory of God?

We must be careful, because this tendency towards the things of this world, rather then the things of God, can be dangerous.
1 John 2:15, 17 – “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
In this passage, Jesus is talking specifically of money, but this can go for anything we set up and worship other than God.
James 4:4-5 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
The world = Enemies of God.
And the only reason that we are not still enemies of God is because of Jesus and what he did for us – if you are in Christ and born again. If you are not, you are an enemy of God.
I don’t know about you guys, but I do not want to be an enemy of God.
But how? How do we come to seek the things of God over the things of the world?
I believe that one of the reasons we do not long for God, that we do not desire the Word of God and why we cling to the things of the World is that we do not have a right view of God and we do not treasure Him as we should and how He deserves.
I think we take Jesus for granted and do no see Him as He is.

Do you treasure Jesus?
Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Matthew 13:45-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Do we give our all to obtain more of the Kingdom? More of Christ? To be in closer fellowship with Jesus?
We don’t. I don’t. — It’s because we do not properly treasure Christ. We do not have a proper view of our Savior.
Matt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
This is problem with our hearts.
To solve this heart problem, let’s take some time to look at Jesus – A true and honest look, and we why we should value him so highly.

Reason 1

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The Word is Jesus, and he was in the Beginning – he is eternal, existing before time – with God, and being God.
STOP: Think about that, not as something you have heard multiple times and has becoming normal for you to hear, but really think about it.
And all things, ALL THINGS, were made through Him. It says in Colossians 1:16-17 that all things were created by Him, and in Him all things hold together.
He is creator and sustainer – of EVERYTHING.

Reason 2

Revelations 19:11-16 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
He is defender and warrior. This passage is a terrifying view of Jesus, but a right view of Him. He is the one who will destroy sin and death – and all of those who are not His own.
To prepare a way for his people – those that He loves and that love Him. – to enter into this.
Revelations 21:3-5 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
This is the goal! – This is what we should have our eyes set on, and this is what we should be valuing. Eternity with God, in full and unbroken fellowship – like Adam and Eve before the Fall.

Reason 3

Let’s continue to look at our Lord Jesus and why we should treasure Him.
John 1:14a And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
Jesus took on flesh and come to live among man.
Jesus – God, eternal, creator, sustainer, defender, and destroyer of sin and death – took on broken human flesh and lived among broken, sinful and unfaithful people.
He willingly chose to do this! This was the plan since the beginning of time.

Why?!
Colossians 1:19-20 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
He did this to reconcile all things to himself buy the Blood of the cross. – He did this for US!
That was his purpose for coming… to redeem His people for His glory!
We are worth that much to Him.
He treasures us deeply – Why do not treasure him the same way?

We must remember what he saved us from – our bondage to sin, slavery and death.
Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
So if you are saved and born again in Christ – we must remember that person we were and how Christ has set us from from that.
And we could not do this on our own – He had to be the one to do this!

Reason 4

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 15:26 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
Christ has given us, sent us, the Holy Spirit to dwell with us and in us.
1 Corinthians 3:16 [Do you not know that you[a] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?]
We are a temple – His temple- because God’s Spirit dwells within us.
The God of all creation has chosen to dwell within us.
To be with us always -and to teach and guide us about Christ
It says in Romans 8:11 that this is the same Spirit of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead! – That power resides within us.
How can we not treasure this? We are so quick to think, “Yeah, I know this” but do we really absorb this information and what that means for our lives. The Holy, Just, God of Creation willing lives and indwells broken, sinful, man.
This is crazy right?! How is this even possible?
In the Old Testament, the Spirit of the Lord dwelled in the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.
This was most Holy – There is a story in 2 Samuel of a man named Uzzah and this is what happened to him as they were moving the Ark of the Covenant.
2 Samuel 6:6-7 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.
He was trying to steady the Ark so it would not fall. He touched the Ark and died! He died coming that close to the Holiness of God. That is the only fate available to sinners when confronted with the Holiness of God.
And this same Spirit lives in us! The very same. And we do not die – because of the blood of Christ and his sacrifice to bring us into right standing before God. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee of our salvation and the proof that we have right standing before God, because it we did not we could die.
This is how we learn to treasure God more – by realizing what he has done for us – and praising Him for it.
This is why we must meditate on the Word – think about it – not just hear it.

Reason 5

Finally – Romans 8:26, 33-34 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. – Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
If everything else was not already more than we could process – The Holy Spirit and Jesus, Himself, intercede for us before the Father.
When we do not know how to pray as we should, the Holy Spirit prays for us – on our behalf.
And Christ is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us – rescuing us from the charges against us and from condemnation.
Why do we treasure Christ? – How can we not? – When we have a right view of Him!
The very God of Creation who has come into human flesh, the Christ who will end sin and death forever, for the purpose of saving and redeeming His people. More than that, Christ has sent the very Spirit of God – so holy that it cannot abide sin – to dwell within us, reveal truth to us and intercede for us.

This is how we treasure Christ – Look at Him!
My prayer for you is this: Ephesians 1:16-18 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
and that the Lord would make this your heart –
Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Fight the Good Fight of Faith my friends.
This will not be easy, but its worth it.

Engage the Outsider

What do you find is your treasure in your own life? What is that thing you cannot live without?

What a crazy whirlwind it has been since we landed! So we landed after the constant delays and missed flights.

So once we landed, we came home to the apartment and we had an out of country pastor and 3 of this friends and ministry partners staying with us for the weekend. Spending time with these brothers and sisters was wondering, and hearing their stories of coming to faith, as they were all once muslim. Hearing the success their ministry is having and the joy in which our Father has given them was a joy for us. Saturday we had two services where the Pastor was able to share the Gospel with our immigrant crowd on Saturday morning, and the church as whole for a special event Saturday night and as part of our normal service Sunday morning. It was amazing to see the Lord at work in all of these services and see evidences of salvation for an individual who I have known for 3 years and who others have been praying for salvation for over the past 7 years. It was an amazing blessing to be present for such an event.

However, having to hit the ground running after all the mishaps in with travel and with no time to rest and recover from jet lag was very difficult. Our guest stayed with us from Friday until Sunday after service. Sunday after service, Jennifer and I came back to the apartment, had lunch and I was heading for my room, when I hear a booming voice yell “MORGAN”! It was one of my friends and he and 3 other friends has come over to have some of the leftover lunch and hang out. I was excited to see them, but also very tired and ready for a nap. So I talked with them for a bit, then we went to the couches to hang out and I laid down on my half and one of the couches and tired to nap, while hanging with my friends.

That didn’t work too well… as you can imagine. So once my friend left, I slept for about an hour and a half and then we got up and prepared our English Lessons for the week.

Monday was a big day with 3 English Lessons and another hours and half nap for me. I started feeling a little rough that night, but assumed it was no big thing. Had a nice Skype chat that evening with my little brother and called it a night. I was BIG time looking forward to our Tuesday rest day.

Well… Tuesday I woke up feeling like death! I literally only got out of bed to make little bits of food, get medicine, and go to the bathroom. I literally slept for over 10 hours, when my usual is like 6 and I am good, and spent ALL day in bed. I had some evil sinus mess, and then in the evening, my old friend the migraine showed up (and yes I mean migraine – I know the difference between headache and migraine. I get both often… this was a migraine). Overnight, the sinus stuff began to subside some (A BIG Praise to the Lord and shout out to my Prayer Warriors) but that migraine was still rock in full force. So my roommate helped me draw a hot bath this morning (yes – literally draw, because we have not had hot water since we got here. We totally did the whole boil water on the stove and fill the tub, then cool it down the cold water from the faucet – thing. It is hard work, and it definitely helps you treasure the value a nice hot bath or shower. I would have killed for a nice hot shower last night… seriously though. It would have helped so much). After my bath, I at least felt clean.

My migraine was able to vacate my mind by 2pm today so that I could teach a youth class, which had 15 students! They were very well behaved and picked up on stuff very quickly. I am kind of excited about this group! I was able to come home for the rest of the afternoon and relax. My headache is gone, and I am starting to feel so much better!

Tomorrow should be a good day! In theory, I will be feeling better, AND we should be getting out hot water heater fixed (that’s also in theory… but ya know… Here’s to hoping!)

So, if you have not heard… I am heading back to Brussels for another 3 months!

Sorry to not inform you earlier, this summer has been WONDERFUL, but insane!

By heading back to Brussels, I mean to say, I am there now. Or I will be shortly. I am writing this in Zurich, Switzerland (but it will probably be posted from Brussels when we arrive tonight).

Trying to get to Brussels have been a test on my patience and trust. We started out with being delayed out of OKC, so right off the bat we had to reschedule ALL of our remaining flights. So I went from going to OKC – Chicago – Brussels, to having to to OKC – Chicago – Zurich – Brussels.

So we are delayed from the top, then again by an additional 30 minutes before we boarded, so we get into Chicago with 20 minutes to go to an entire new terminal (by train thing), get out of security, go back through TSA security, find our gate and board. I was thinking, “We can do this!” But then we hit the TSA line.. and it was long. We waited there for 10 minutes before I had given up all hope of making the flight. So as Jennifer (my Brussels Buddy for the next 3 months) and I are discussing going to get a Deep Dish Pizza, since we are in Chicago, we hear this precious angel saying “Anyone for Zurich?” So obviously I shout “US”, probably a little too loud. This precious heaven-sent TSA Angel whisked us through TSA, and the lines then onto our plane, absolute last second. Prayers of thanksgiving were happening for sure!

Then the plane we RAN for, literally, sat at the gate FOR AN HOUR! Literally. There was so much traffic that we could not get out of Chicago for an hour. We finally took off and Swiss Air took good care of us. We landed too late to catch our connection in Zurich (UGH!) but they rebooked up hassle free and we just have to hang for the next few HOURS until it is time for the flight home! At this point…. I just want to be in a bed!

Then, we finally get a gate for our plane in Zurich and decide to head to that terminal/concourse and we have to go through Passport Control. No biggie right.

WRONG

The super nice lady starts asking me all these questions about why I am coming and what we are doing and why did I go to Belgium 3 months earlier this year and when I am coming back now. So I am being all informative and vague and she informs me that apparently I have been in the EuroZone too much the way the Calendar and stuff works and I am not allowed to enter until a later date… which happens to be tomorrow. What?!?! Come again??!?! What is about to happen. Well, she calls one of the other security guys in and the talk (in Swedish – Thanks bros) and come to the conclusion that since I am a mere 7 hours early, they will grant me access anyway. PTL – I am still not sure, because by my calendar I should be good, but ya know… whatever.

The whole travel process was a mess, and I am just thankful that God was able to make it happen, because honestly, I am pretty sure that we would not have made it today if He was not awesome!

Quick Summary of the Things I Learned Today!

Some people are just forgetful and needy, (me – as I forgot the material for our English Classes we are teaching this week) and others are AMAZING (My new roomie – literally have known her for a week – who drove the forgotten packets to the airport – 40 min drive one way – so I could have them for the trip!) Love the servants and amazing people in your life!

Swiss Air is my favorite! The food was good, the movie selection was great, the staff was stellar and when we missed our connection in Zurich because the flight was late, they rebooked us and it was ready for us when we got off the plane, AND they gave us a voucher for lunch! Thanks for the Love Swiss Air!

When you pray for patience and trust, the Lord grows those in you. He doesn’t just give them, He forces growth in them. [This isn’t “new”, but still reinforced today.] God is FAITHFUL!

People who at first appear “too cool” are just as klutzy and normal as the rest of us. Case in point: On the flight from Chicago to Zurich I was by this Euro looking guy who come off “too cool” and was obviously irritated that I made the flight and he lost the opportunity to have an empty seat next to him. Well, after dinner, bro spilt his a cup of wine all over his shirt, pants and seat [Note: He was not drunk… just a klutz). I said, I’ll get some napkins, and jumped up and went to the back for napkins. When I came back, he was all like “I don’t even know what happened” [please include Euro Accent – Swedish I believe if you are being particular], and I responded, “No worries, I am surprised I haven’t spilt my drink on me. It’s usually me spilling stuff.” He gives me a strange look and goes “Really?” and I was like “Yeah, I am kinda a klutz” and laughed at myself. He looked at me for a second, the chuckled, said thanks and we went back to watching our separate movies. He was much less “cool” the second half of the flight, or just actually cool.

Added As I’m Posting this… Coming back to Brussels felt like coming home. I know this makes some of you real sad to hear, but once we landed, there was a sweet familiarity and comfort of being here and back where I know things, especially after Zurich and Swedish and Swiss Francs!

So, from my Euro Home… I’m out! It’s time for me to go to bed! Much love and I’ll keep you posted of my adventures in Belgium!

So, for my next Outsider Applauds I want to tell you about one of my favorite trilogies. But I want to preface this by saying that, generally, I do not like Christian Fiction. I often find it boring, or predictable, and too unrealistic. That is not true for Francine Rivers books. I have not read all of her stuff, and probably won’t to be honest. I first read her book, Redeeming Love. It’s a story based off of the book Hosea (which is my favorite book of the Bible – I am sure I will write a blog gushing over it at some point) and it was really good. Like real good. So note that despite that, I am not writing about that book.

I am writing about the Mark of the Lion Series. This trilogy is made up of Voice on the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness and As Sure as the Dawn. There are numerous characters that we follow throughout the books but two main storylines. The first is the story of Hadassah, a young Jewish girl just sold into slavery, and the family she serves The Valerian’s, a prominent, wealthy family in Rome. The other follows Atretes, a Germanic warrior who is captured and turned into a Gladiator in Rome. Set the generation after Christ when Rome desecrated Jerusalem and at the height of Roman prowess, this characters will captivate your heart. Hadassah is a constant testament to fighting for your faith, not just in society but within yourself, battling herself as much as she battles the world. The Valerians buy Hadassah to be a maid for their youngest child, Julia, and we begin to see the family dynamics at play. Demetrius, a foreigner who bought his Roman Citizenship and the Head of this Household doing everything he can to provide for his family and protect them from the endless indulgences and debauchery of Rome, with his wife Phoebe who loves her children but is brokenhearted by their desire to live as Romans and not live a life that is pleasing to the many gods she spends hours praying before. Then there is Julia, the spoiled, indulgent youngest child who wants nothing more than to be like her big brother and experience all the pleasures and wonders of Rome. Then there’s Marcus, a young man who has been swept up in the chaos of Rome, but had found himself jaded, unhappy and bored with the life he had created for himself, but refuses to be pressured into the life his father wishes for him. Finally, you have Atretes, a Germanic warrior who has been captured and uses his rage against Rome and his belief in his tribal god, Tiwaz, to fight for his life as a gladiator.

I have never found myself so invested in characters before, and I love to read. I would get so lost in these books that I would find myself praying for the characters. Strength for Hadassah. Salvation for others. Then I would realize what I was doing, laugh at myself and apologize to God getting so wrapped up in book. Hadassah is written so transparently and her struggles are put on display and we can see how she struggles to remain faithful, which demonstrates way we can struggle and fight to remain faithful, especially when our flesh wants nothing more than to cave and give in. Marcus is paramount in helping us to personify the struggle with being discontent with the world around us and the desperation and sorrow that comes when they have nothing else to turn to.

The book begins with a harrowing and haunting description of Jerusalem during the first Jewish-Roman war. Enjoying historical fictions, I loved the first new chapters that really set up the world Hadassah (in Jerusalem) and Atretes (in Germania) were leaving and the world they now found themselves in, the great Roman Empire. However, this intro can be very sad, and some people can get lost in it and give up on the book before getting to Rome. If this section is difficult for you, I would encourage you to read until you meet the Valerians and complete that chapter. Wait until you get to Rome and Hadassah is installed in the Valerian household. If you still are not hooked, then that’s fine, we all have different taste — but hold out through Jerusalem and Germania, get to Rome before you quit.

So, there it is. I love these books. I reread them at least one a year, I just cannot stop myself. So grab a copy on the first book for your next vacation and get ready to enter a world that will challenge you, convict you and cause you to look at the world around us. Here is the link for the author’s site and more information if you want: http://www.francinerivers.com/books/series/mark-lion

And again… I am writing an apology blog. I am literally the worst. What happened was I was writing a book review for a very academic book, that was wonderful, but taking FOREVER, and I stalled out. I didn’t want to post until I finished it as motivation, and now 3 months later, it’s still not done.

So I give up. That stupid review will not be posted. BUT I WILL POST! Life has been an absolute whirlwind, and I am finally getting settled back stateside.

So here is a fly-by update of what I missed telling you all about over the last 3 months.

In Belgium:

April 4-8 – Camp with our Students

April 21 – Trip to Bruges/Brugge with Jennifer & Shawn

May 8 – A 9-Hour Romanian Wedding

May 21 – Lecrae Concert

May 22 – Surprise Party for me (the night before I left)

May 23 – I came back to the US of A (And got trapped in Tulsa overnight because of crazy storms)

In Oklahoma

May 29– My Friend leave for Nicaragua for a month with a bunch of my students!

June 1-5 – Middle School Camp with my students

June 4 – Broke my toe at camp… seriously.

June 6 – My BEST FRIEND got married!

June 15-18 – VBS!

June 12-14 – Weekend Retreat in the Woods (Processing Belgium and such)

June 19 – Started a week long temp Job

June 25 – Got hired on Full Time at my Temp Job (For the summer until I go back to Belgium)

June 26 – Everyone comes back from Nicaragua!

June 28 – July 1 – Volleyball Tourney with The Youths at church

July 4-5 – Good Times with Family in Stillwater.

July 10 – I quit being a loser and start blogging again.

Now you are caught up. Welcome to my life.

In all seriousness, the challenges that I have faced over the last 6 months has been exhausting. Some were expected, some caught me completely off guard. Things I thought were true, are not, and things I would have never believed are now concrete in my heart.

For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. – Phil 4:11-12

This has been made true in my life. Contentment and rest are trending as the theme for my summer, and as frustrating as learning these lessons are, I am enjoying the process. I am enjoying the freedom from feeling obligation and the depths of joy in resting and feelings rested. I am still working on not feeling guilty when I say no, and the feeling of needing to do more, but I have decided this is a fight worth fighting.

I will write again soon. I will post LONG overdue pictures from Bruges. I will reinsert myself in your lives. Sorry for taking so long a sabbatical. It wasn’t just you, I promise.

As we go through life there are always just a few people whom really get you. They get your humor, jokes, and nerdy tendencies (or in my case, put up with my full blown Nerdom). I have such a great group of these at home back stateside. I am not sure I have had shared before how some of my friends got together before I left to give my a note/letter everyday that I would be gone here to Belgium. That’s 89 letters they gave me. Some have been wonderful letters of encouragement, other just scripture to remember. Some are inside jokes and I even got an empty one on April Fools…

Silly, and wonderful! I have just been so very thankful for these letters. They have been so helpful in remembered that I am not alone. I have people at home supporting me and praying for me, even if I don’t feel it. I have the best friends and such an amazing support system in them and my church.

This was my card from today. It made me laugh out loud! A literal “LOL” y’all! Some people just get me… These girls do!

If you have awesome people like this in your life, stop now, and Thank the Lord for them. Not everyone is this blessed. Do not take them for granted like I so often have. Love them, care for them, and pray for them!

So late. So sorry. It has been a mad house around here and I have been beyond busy. I finally got around to editing some of the pictures from our day trip to Paris two weeks ago and wanted to share them with you.

Please enjoy, and know that I did!

Monet!

MonetMonet

Picasso

But no Van Gogh, because they were on strike and that portion of the Musée D’Orsay was closed.

More to come soon from a trip to the Royal Gardens and another day trip to Bruges.

There has been so much going on, sorry to have neglected you as of late. This was a very busy past week. I will be writing blogs this week to update you on the Youth Camp and my trip to Paris!

Today, I just have to tell you about an activity/conference/event we had at the church today. It was called Portes Ouvertes here in Belgium/France (Open Doors back home) and it was part of their Coccinelle Tour 2015 where they are celebrating 60 years as an Organization and reviewing the work the Lord has done over the past 60 years and encourage and motivate a new generation of Christians to support and care for the persecuted church. A woman shared about her faith, imprisonment and exile from an Islam controlled country. I have so often heard stories about my persecuted brothers and sisters worldwide, and my heart and prayers go out to them often, but on this trip to Belgium, I have had the immense blessing to meet several brothers and sisters who have personally endured extreme persecution for their faith. Being able to talk with this women was so encouraging. And it amazed me that she was so excited to meet an American. I was like, whatever, I’m just an American – That’s nothing special! You are in the Father’s hand! Your relationship and trust in the Lord is so convicting and encouraging! Oh to be used as the Father is using you! It was such a blessing and a gift.

For me, it was also really great to have so many of the students who has come to camp be there as well. I feel like they were able to get a really great view of the blessing they have here in Belgium, as well as the call and the weight of that call. It breaks my heart that so many people think that becoming a Christian makes things easier. They is just not true. If anything, in my experience it makes things harder sometimes. You end up facing a battle not only with the world but also with yourself, and dying to self everyday is not easy. However, it is worth it. I can’t imagine trying to do all of this without God. I literally would not be alive. He is my anchor, my hope, my joy, my all. It’s been unreal the transition, but one that I would do again and again.

We, in western cultures, too often hide the difficult parts of scripture and being a Christian, and because we do this, sometimes people feel as if we pulled a “bait and switch” on them. “Isn’t God supposed to protect me?” Then why did [insert illness, struggle, pain, life] happen to me? This must be God doesn’t not care about me or does not exist.

FALSE!

This is just not true! The Bible does say that God will protect us, but I don’t think this is always referring to our physical bodies and our comfort. He protects our soul, our hope, our salvation! He certainly holds all things together (Colossians 1:17), but I believe that He can use anything that happens to us for His Gloryand our sanctification.

This should be our priority, not success, health or comfort. We need to readjust our ideas of Truth.

Here are some links that you may enjoy, going back to the Coccinelle Tour! Bedtime over here!! Free day tomorrow… I am so happy! Rest, here I come!

I just wanted to take a quick moment to share an awesome resource with you.

I will admit that sometimes studying the Bible, without workbooks, commentaries, etc, can seem daunting and a little overwhelming, but I have derived so much joy from time in the Word like this. I recently stumbled upon this sections of the Desiring God website called Look at the Book. What John Piper does is shows a bit of text on the screen, and walks us through how to look at the text and study it. It shows us his through processed and the way he breaks down the text. This can be really helpful as we grow in our abilities to study scripture and grown in our knowledge of God. See the video below for the “trailer” if you will given by Desiring God about Look at the Book.

I would encourage you to take time to review a couple of these videos. I’ll watch/listen to one while I am doing dishes or cooking. It can also be helpful if you are studying a particular passage or book, to see an additional viewpoint. I believe spending time watching videos like this, rather than yet another Fail video, or Dumb Cute Cat, can be beneficial for our growth as Christians and for just plain ol’ good for the soul.

I promised you that if my lesson went well on Friday night I would post the notes from it on here! So here they are.

Main Idea: We naturally drawn to sin, but we have ways to avoid and protect yourself from sin.

Our Never Ending Battle with Sin.

The Bible tells us over and over that we are sinful to the core.

Genesis 6:5 — “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Ephesian 2:1-2 — “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience”

This is an idea that most Christians are familiar with. Our relation of our sin drives us to our need for a Savior.

There is nothing we can do to solve our problem with sin on our own.

This is where Christ steps in.

Ephesians 2:4-5 — “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved”

2 Corinthians 5:21 — “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”

Christ pays for the Eternal Consequences of sin for us!

But does the means that we no longer desire to sin? By no means! Even Paul struggles with the impulse and desire to sin.

Romans 7:18-20 — “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me”

We are called to Fight the Sin in our lives.

1 Timothy 6:11-12 —But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses”

2 Timothy 2:22 — “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart”

We must daily fight sin in our lives! But the Lord has given up two excellent tools to fight sin with!

A New Identity

A New Community

Our New Identity

Let’s start with 2 Corinthians 5:17 — “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”

When we are in Christ, we become NEW! (This happens when the Holy Spirit come to us.)

The Old has passed away and the new has come.

So what is this new that we are?

Ephesians 1:3-12– [This is a BIG chunk, but what is says about us as Christians, and its important.] “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory”

Blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Chosen

Holy

Blameless

Adopted as sons and daughters

Blessed

Redeemed

Forgiven

Lavished with Grace

United with Christ

Obtained an Inheritance

Hope

This is what God says has been given to us, through Christ, that we are given when we become Christians, submit to the Lord and walk in the life He has planned for us.

But why does knowing our identity help us fight sin.

This world often bases our identity on others and how they view us.

Have you ever doubted yourself and your identity because of what another person, or society, says about you?

Or, have you ever done something you didn’t want to, or that you knew was wrong, to gain others approval?

Do you see how our identity matters! When our identity is questioned, we question our worth.

When we feel worthless, we will often stop at nothing to stop feeling this way.

Some sinful ways that this shows in our lives are:

Taking 100’s of selfies in order to look “just perfect” before posting.

Giving up our standards and purity in relationships to please the other person.

Compromising our morals to save a relationship.

Giving up Church or Time with God for other things like school, sleep or video games.

These situations can lead us into sins like these because we are looking to relationships or people for our worth and identity.

Busyness

Laziness

Vanity

Drunkenness

Sexual Immorality

But why? – We put the thoughts and opinions of other, and what they say about us, before what God says about us, we do not walk in our identity that God has give us.

This is why we must remember what God says about us and believe the Word of God over the World.

We must seek what God says about us over what the world says!

When we trust God’s identity for us over the world’s, then we are free from trying to constantly impress others.

I can share from personal experience – When I was younger, I was so worried about what other people thought of me that it was all that I could ever think about. It caused depression, anxiety and overwhelming selfishness in my life, trying to live up to the image I wanted them to see, and to be enough for them. But when I gave it up and chose to Believe what God says about me instead, there was such freedom. I don’t worry as much, so I can think about others more. I am more aware of when others are hurting or more focused on what is happening around me, and less focused on what people are thinking of me. It is such a relief.

Our New Community

We were never intended to live our lives in Faith by ourselves.

Even all the way back in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, God does not leave Adam alone, but gives him a companion because it wasn’t good that he was alone.

Ecclesiastics 4:9-12 — Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

This verse shows how when we fall or are overcome, if we are alone we will fail. But if we have others around us, they can lift us up and help us withstand.

We help strengthen each other because we need each other!

God gives an great example of what Christian Community should look like.

Acts 2:42-47 — “And they devoted themselves to the apostles ‘ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved”

This is a familiar passage for most of us, but let us take a deeper look at it. What elements are highlighted about this group?

Devoted to Teaching (Studying together)

Fellowship

Prayer

Provided for one another

Attended services together

Shared meals and life together

Praising God

It this what your friendships with other Christians looks like?

Do you study the Bible together?

Do you talk about what you have been learning in scripture together?

Do you pray for one another often?

Do we take care of each other when we need help?

Do we truly share life together?

Does another Christian truly know you and do you know someone else?

When I say know, I mean does anyone know your struggles, the sins you battle, the doubts you have, the dreams your have?

James 5:16 — “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

When we are known by other believers:

We stand stronger in our faith

We grow stronger in our ability to withstand temptation to sin

We are reminded of Truth when we begin to doubt, or question our identity.

We need community to persevere. This is how we persevere. This close community is gift from the Lord, but one we ignore too often.

Thank You

I just wanted to take a second to say Thank You! You did not have to take precious time out of your schedule to read this blog, but you did.
Seriously, Thank You!
I hope that I can encourage you, motivate you, move you. I do not want to write with no purpose, I want to affect peoples lives with my life. Thanks for being a part of that. Contact me if you have any questions or if you just want to talk. - An Outsider